Aqua

The view and ambiance alone are worth dining here for. It’s located at the end of West Pier and has gorgeous views through the huge windows in the dining room. The food is good and fresh. The portions are a little on the smaller side. The service is very attentive without being intrusive. I like this spot more for a special occasion.

There is SO MUCH choice for food in Howth… everywhere you look there’s another gorgeous little place to tempt you in. I may be like a parrot repeating myself here but if you are a pizza fan you have GOT to try Il Panorama Café… the best pizza I’ve had in Dublin. But for years I had seen Aqua at the end of the West Pier and wanted to try it… so this was our chosen spot. Given that it was lunchtime, we probably should have thought to make a reservation but luckily enough got a seat anyway. With views right out over the water, you can see why it’s a popular choice.
We took our seats and started off with some bread and a glass of Sauvignon … the sea air must have made me hungry :-) The lunchtime deal offers two courses for € 23.95 and had a pretty decent choice of meat, fish and a veg option. We went for a starter, mains each and shared a dessert.
The Ceaser salad was fresh and light, and with my chilled white wine it went down a treat! Mains were both excellent… the chicken requested with chips instead of wedges was soft and juicy with some gorgeous chunky chips. And my Aubergine Parmigiana was absolutely delicious.
Dessert choices were Chocolate Raspberry Tart, Crème Brûlée or Irish Strawberries with cream… the Crème Brûlée won out and we weren’t disappointed. Nice and crisp on the top with perfectly smooth set custard beneath and a zingy raspberry sorbet served alongside. It was the perfect finish to the meal.
After a really good lunch we left, unsurprisingly walking out through a full to the brim restaurant. Aqua is the perfect spot in Howth if you fancy something just that bit more special to round off your visit — just gorgeous!

If you have a craving for seafood, you can’t really go wrong heading out to Howth with the vast array of seafood restaurants to choose from. Aqua grabbed our attention however as they had a two-​course lunch menu for under € 25 and there was a fairly decent selection to choose from.
We shared the mussels to start (served in a white wine, garlic and cream sauce which was so good you could almost drink it). The portion size was really decent and more than enough for two people.
We then had the fish and chips and chicken for mains. Both were really tasty but I was a little disappointed with the portion size. The chicken and fish portions were fine but the sides were disappointing (two large wedges and some veg with the chicken and a small handfull of chips and pea purée with the fish). Saying that we really enjoyed what we had so I can’t complain too much, it’s just something to be aware of if you are planning on sharing a starter.
We shared a crème brûlée then for dessert which was so delicious we were almost fighting over it! It was served with mini meringues and raspberry sorbet which complimented it really well and finished off the meal nicely!
The service was a bit slow at the beginning, the restaurant was busy but not packed so I would wonder how fast the service would be during really busy periods. As our food started to come out though the staff were really attentive. The main draw for me, however, was the amazing view, looking right out onto the water through the floor to ceiling windows… it really is beautiful and well worth a visit for this alone!

My husband and I took a side-​trip to Howth that coincided with dinnertime. We checked out all the restaurants along the pier but settled on this place for its obviously stellar views and a menu that sounded higher-​end. You have to buzz up when you get to the door before they let you in, and as we were the first ones there when it opened at 5.30 they gave us a table even though we didn’t have a reservation as long as we were out in an hour because they were booked with large parties for the night. We gladly agreed, were let upstairs, and led to a beautiful little corner table with great views. My husband had a duck liver mousse, which was tasty, but I opted for an all-​seafood dinner and went with the oysters as my appetizer. They were the best oysters I’d ever had… big and juicy with the briniest, liveliest liquor. Both of our fish entrees were great. The fish was cooked perfectly and everything was well-​seasoned. I also enjoyed 2 lovely vodka martinis… they got the vermouth just right. It was definitely an expensive meal but I guess you pay for the view as well. All-​in-​all, and enjoyable dinner!

Alright a restaurant of this caliber and type should really know how to cook a lobster.
It needed to be said.
Why is there nobody left in the non-​3 star Michelin world that knows how to cook a lobster?! Don’t get me wrong, I definitely don’t know how, but I absolutely know that that lobster was overcooked.
However.
Great view, fantastic ambience, and pretty decent service.
The rest of the food was also not terrible, the chicken liver pâté was delicious (but liver is always delicious) and the tomato salad we got was quite refreshing. The fish seemed well cooked, though that wasnt what I ordered; I got the seafood platter and I felt that it didn’t live up to my excitement for it. A couple rolls of overly salty smoked salmon, the overcooked lobster, and a couple other bits and pieces of seafood which were really not that memorable. We went for my sister’s graduation-​into-​a-​life-​saver dinner and I was just so unimpressed. Sadness. It was supposed to be such a good meal for celebratory reasons.

Fantastick restaurant in beautiful Howth. A nice place to have a dinner with your friends or partner and its the perfect place for sea food lovers. We ordered many dishes and dont remember the names of them but all were delicious.

Fui a Aqua hace dos fines de semana, no llevábamos reserva previa pero había mesas disponibles.
Yo ni había estado nunca y me fascinaron las vistas al mar, me daba a ambiente de hotel y vacaciones.
La comida fue servida rapidisimo! Incluso nos sorprendió que tan rápido, y bueno si estaba bastante bueno pero no creo que pueda considerarse el mejor pescado o la carta con mayor variedad de marisco que haya visto.
Destacar de nuevo las vistas alucinantes, volveré segurisimo.

What can I say?! Aqua is a beautiful restaurant with a setting to match. For the entrée, I had the fillet steak which was cooked to perfection, and was presented beautifully. My partner had the calamari which she also said was gorgeous. For dessert, I tried the crème brûlée. It is often difficult to find a good crème brûlée, but Aqua hit the nail on the head!

I find that fantastic views tend to mean unexceptional food and/​or service. Such was the case at Aqua.
In general the food is so ambitious that you end up with stuff that doesn’t really work, like the brill dish, in which broccoli and basil pesto is thrown together with some odd variety of gnocchi in an elaborate plate presentation. It just leaves you wondering why you couldn’t just have something straightforward and simple, and that actually merits € 25 – 30 per person. Similar reactions were made to the calamari appetizer.
But again, the views around Howth were great, so perhaps it’s worth stopping by after a meal elsewhere for a cocktail or dessert.

There are several excellent seafood restaurants in Howth however Aqua is not one of them. Spectacular view and excellence staff service but it stops there. The food was disappointing, Fish was bland, re heated and rubbery. If you are looking for great seafood stop at one of the many restaurants along the way out to Aqua.

We had some friends in town from London last month so took them up to Howth for some hiking and seafood. As luck would have it — we picked one of the worst weather days for outdoor fun so our hike quickly turned rainy, muddy, and miserable. Determined to show them a good time — we decided not to let our damp appearances keep us from some quality Howth seafood and made our way toward the pier. We had previously tried Beshoff’s so kept walking with the hopes of trying something new. When we ended up at Aqua we thought it might be too fancy for our hiking clothes but an exiting patron assured us that it was lunchtime so we would be fine. The hostess buzzed us inside and upon entering we quickly realised two things: 1) Aqua has one of the most spectacular dining views in Dublin and 2) we were extremely under-​dressed. It was too late to turn back at this point though so we added our name to the waiting list and took a seat in the bar area to enjoy some wine while we waited. The service in the bar was pretty terrible but in their defence, the hostess was doing double duty between seating people and pouring drinks for waiting guests. After a decent wait we were taken to our table. We had a clear view of the ocean and some of the «cliffs» nearby — just beautiful. Now for the food… we started with a variety of dishes from seafood chowder to goats cheese salad. Everything was pretty tasty. For mains two of us got the sustainably caught cod with the roast garlic potatoes and white grape black olive relish and the other two split some huge seafood platter with everything from lobster to oysters to salmon. Every dish had nice presentation and the cod was cooked perfectly. I also really enjoyed the grape/​olive combo — it really added to the dish. This was the most expensive lunch we have had in Dublin (or maybe ever) but the view is a must see and the food was very nice.

Its not really a good sign when you have to think really hard to remember what you ate … So I guess I’ll start by saying it was forgettable! We were with a large group so had a set menu so perhaps my review is limited here… I ordered a black pudding and pear starter and the cod for mains… I know not exactly exciting choices but I was hoping for some creativity in the simple dishes, instead I got the ronseal does what it says on the tin approach and the food was nice, nothing wow but nice.
The staff were lovely and the view of the sea is beautiful.

Very great restaurant !
The deep fried calamari and salmon penne are just perfect.
The staff is very professional and skilled !
A spectacular view of the sea from the dinning room !
I recommand this place for good !!

This restaurant was recommended to us by the concierge at our hotel. The location was great. Romantic village/​small town just a few miles from the center of Dublin. The food was very good and the seafood selection was extensive but the quality was ordinary. The wine list was just adequate. Prices were above average.

There are so many seafood places to choose from in Howth, I’m looking forward to trying others as well. I picked this place based on the ratings on Unilocal and I was surprised it rated a 5. Not a bad restaurant, but not a 5. I had the pan fried cod. It was adequately cooked, under seasoned. When I say under seasoned, I would have guessed it was steamed, not fried. The chowder was excellent. My wife had the tomato soup, again, under seasoned, it seemed like puréed tomatoes only. Everything was fresh so no complaints about quality. The bread basket was fantastically fresh artisanal breads, a real plus after a week of Irish soda bread on the side of every meal. I realize others may love soda bread, but a nice crusty French bread for me (they also served a savory bread with raisins, and what I’m guessing was one with sun dried tomatoes… Both very good) The décor and ambiance are modern and beautifully appointed. The view was the best of any restaurant we’ve eaten in in a weeks time. Another notable difference here, is the restaurant was bright with huge picture windows overlooking the bay. Beautiful view as the clouds and sun traded places throughout lunch. Don’t avoid this place, my review isn’t a knock on the place, but it’s not a 5.

Wonderful view lovely restaurant

Had a recommendation from a friend that the seafood here is lovely, and so I decided to bring my girlfriend here on her birthday, and what a good decision this was!
The staff was really welcoming and very polite and genuine from start to finish. The patrons all seem like regulars too which is another great sign. We got here a little early so we went to the pre-​dinner lounge that was warm and cosy — much appreciated as it was freezing that night!
The seafood was indeed fabulous here and we had some tasty fresh oysters for starters (ended up ordering another portion!) and then went for a massive, massive lobster to share which the waiter kindly recommended us off-​menu (its larger than the large lobster they have on the menu, was lucky they had caught this that day). This was done to perfection and it’s so delicious I can still taste it on my lips just thinking about it!
I would highly recommend this restaurant for any seafood lovers, this place is a gem and I’ll definitely be back soon!

Great smart urban-​chic restaurant overlooking the Irish Sea. You can guess by the name that it serves a lot of seafood, and you would be right.
The views are stunning, try to get a table by the windows, and the food is just as good. My wife loved it.
Heartily recommend.

Fabulous location at the end of the West Pier in Howth. Sea views, as long as you have a window table. Get there before 7PM, Mid week and avail of a great value «Early Bird Menu» Fish is always excellent. I can also recommend the Duck and Fillet Steak. Staff well trained and friendly.